Bowlbacks of Note

[Martin Jonas]

Once again, something came up that was too good to pass on: I pulled the trigger on this Ceccherini when I saw it with a Buy-It-Now price of 50 Pounds. I think it had only just been put up: the Ebay counter shows only six hits during the time the listing was active. That price was less than the cheapest hard shell case on the market, so I really had to give in. The seller lives near me and I picked it up in person after work today.

It's a beautiful instrument in robust shape. Some cosmetic battering, largely as a result of prolonged exposure to light while out of a case, but nothing serious other than some restorative work needed on the bridge. Straight neck, low action, no soundboard cracks, fine tight top woods (as on any Ceccherini I've seen). Unlike my other two Ceccherinis, there will be no adjustment of action necessary before making it playable.

In terms of level of decoration and quality of craftsmanship, it's a close relative to my other double-top Ceccherini, except for its evidently much harder life. Where the other one looks like it came out of the showroom yesterday, this one has tarnished silver inlays, dulled tortoiseshell and a very dark soundboard. As usual, fabulously elegant inlay work on the pickguard, tailpiece cover, fretboard markers and, the coup-de-grace, a wonderfully elegant brass, MOP and abalone inlay on the headstock. I've not seen headstock inlay like this one before and will post photos once I have it cleaned up. For the brass and silver inlay, polishing with Brasso or such should restore some sheen. Any ideas on how to polish old dull tortoiseshell?

The most striking aspect of this one is of course that it has ten strings. The listing didn't make it clear whether they were in four or in five courses, but it turns out that it's four courses, with the triple strings on the treble courses. A pity in a way, as I thought it might be a mandolin/mandola, like Vega used to make. I don't think conversion to five courses is a goer, either: the fretboard is only about a millimetre wider than my 8-string Ceccherini and the bowl looks to be exactly the same shape and size as the other one with the very curious exception that it has 15 ribs where the other one has 16. Braces may be slightly stronger, and the neck is certainly somewhat chunkier, presumably to withstand the extra tension from two additional strings, but it's otherwise not obviously stronger built.

I'm pretty sure I will set it up as an eight-string and make use of the extra strength by going for slightly heavier gauges, e.g. the Optima Goldins that I use on the Embergher.

Photos to come soon once I've cleaned it up a bit.

Martin

[guitharsis]

Congrats, Martin! It's unique and a beauty.
Doreen

[Fliss]

Martin, congrats on your new purchase! You are a true bargain hunter I look forward to hearing how it sounds, I'd also be interested to know what difference the chunkier neck makes to the feel of it when you play.

Fliss

[Jim Garber]

This is a strange one. De Santi - Angro mandola.

At first I thought the seller mispelled both names but it seems that the label says that. All the others I have seen have had the names in reverse order and had them Angara - DiSanto.

Other than that, it seems like it has been thru the mill. Bridge glued on (possibly) and lots of cracks.

Jim

[Martin Jonas]

I've put some photos of my new Ceccherini up in the pictures forum here

Martin

[Jim Garber]

No messing around on this 1937 Calace sold by Carlo M. I love his term "harmguard." Covers both the harm and the arm.

Jim

[brunello97]

I thought this guy was kind of a joke...but is this for real?


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws...._widget

Is he really butchering up valuable instruments? Who would sell him something knowing this is the outcome?

Max von Sydow time.

Mick

[Keith Miller]

I hate to say it but yes it will be for real, there are a number of inlay people out east who do this sort of thing and this is not the 1st high end mando that has had the treatment. Mind you a lot of older bowlback were originally a lot more ornate that this is now .
Keith

[RSW]

What's with the tatoo jobs on mandolins these days (from the Tawain contingent)? You start with something ordinary or even ugly (in the case of their own creations) and it ends up even uglier. In the case of that unfortunate 'restored' Vinaccia, my heart aches!

[vkioulaphides]

I have, however, dreamed of owning some over-the-top ornate instrument— only, of course, originally so, perhaps a turn-of-the-century American, something to show off to my grandchildren some day... But, alas, I am both mando-penniless and too much of a crass pragmatist to sense any real need for such a treasure.

"I love his term "harmguard."

Ah, the silent "h" troubles many Italians: which word has it, which doesn't? An Italian composer friend of mine once got into a heated argument about the patrician vs. plebeian background of composers, and how that affected their later, celebrity-status life. In defense of Italy's "national hero" composer, my friend got up and yelled out passionately, "Look at Verdi! Look what masterpieces he wrote, and both his parents were pheasants, lowly, poor, semi-literate pheasants!"

Hard to father a great composer, if you're but a couple of birds after all.

[etbarbaric]

What's with the tatoo jobs on mandolins these days (from the Tawain contingent)?

These have bothered me too, and I think Richard gives it just the right name.... something ornamental that the installer thinks is artistic, but that actually ultimately detracts...

I have wondered if there is any way of conveying a message to these people that this practice is frowned upon but for their own instruments.

Eric

[margora]

"These have bothered me too, and I think Richard gives it just the right name.... something ornamental that the installer thinks is artistic, but that actually ultimately detracts...

I have wondered if there is any way of conveying a message to these people that this practice is frowned upon but for their own instruments."

We can certainly get a message to them, but it will probably be ignored -- unless we tell them that there are potential US (and non-US) customers who would pay SUBSTANTIALLY more for an instrument in original, or restored to original, condition.

[Jim Garber]

I just noticed that this thread has reached its 100th page. Congratulations to all the contributors.

As to the Taiwanese situation... the only solution might be to put the Vinaccias, Calaces, etc on the endangered species list... oh well...

Jim

[Bob A]

Victor, how's this? - dream or nightmare?

It's very similar to one I have; mine has a more floral motif, rather than birds. I tend to cringe while playing it, lest any little chunk of pearl, ivory, tortoise, unicorn horn or precious metal crack or pop off to disappear into the ravenous maw of a dust bunny lurking beneath the couch. I'd rather play the normal Ceccherini for that reason - it sounds just as good, anyway.

The avian example in Philly might be just the thing for the early Verdis.

At least old Umberto got the last word on how he wanted his instrument adorned. I may have been served something inscrutable at a Chinese restaurant from one of those Vinaccias, once.

[vkioulaphides]

"Victor, how's this? - dream or nightmare?"

Well, Bob... it certainly is not a nightmare, IMHO, for the very reason(s) you suggest: that's just what "the master had in mind". While, however, I share your point on originality, I must say I also share your concern that some minuscule, yet crucially important and irreplaceable bit of this gem of an instrument might fall off while in use. Definitely NOT "one for the road"!

To pinpoint my aversion to the "restored" Vinaccia: there is a sense of #deformity there, one terribly painful to those of us who have seen other Vinaccias that, ehm... had not received the wonder-filled contributions of adoring restorers. # So, in context with those, this one strikes us as hideously deformed, abused, mistreated— the good intentions of the restorer notwithstanding.

Au contraire, the Ceccherini you reference (and yours, if I remember it from ealrier postings) is stunningly beautiful in its own way, and exemplifies the "DeLuxe model" mentality with which many fine luthiers (including the Vinaccias, the Calaces, Embergher, and the list goes on...) created those rara avis specimens.

I see this as being the critical difference. As for the similarity between all of them, oh, that's simple: I can't afford ANY of them. #

Cheers,

Victor

[vkioulaphides]

You know... the really sad thing is that, at the very reasonable Buy It Now price of $1,500 —for a hypothetical, UNrestored Vinaccia in good condition, that is — SEVERAL serious players/buyers might have gathered around this auction. Now... gawdy merchandise attracts respectively, ehm... how do I put this?... oh, less discriminating clientele. I hope this is sufficiently P.C.

[Keith Miller]

I work for a University with a collection of old instruments including a number of very elderly mandolins, some of those leave the far east contingent standing in terms of "fancy" . Maybe we are just returning to our roots so to speak
Keith

[Bob A]

I suspect the elderly yet glistening rococo instruments dated from periods when mandolins were very much the fashion with the more elevated strata of society. (It is to be remembered that around the turn of the century Italian royalty was in fact dabbling with the instrument; of course this phenomenon was also noted during earlier periods of the instrument's history).

Here is an example of turn of the century Embergher overindulgence.

Certainly the roots of the mandolin tree (an almond, I suppose) has been watered with the sweat of the elite; nonetheless, it would be a mistake to deny its folk roots, which have always extended deeper into the hearts of hoi polloi, whose affections sustained its existence during the frequent dry spells of the favored few.

[brunello97]

Well, Victor, you are being careful and diplomatic as usual. Yet your position is clear, and that is a good thing.

PC? No need to worry in this case. And I have been living in one of the epicenters of PC in America. Actually it has helped to clarify things in my mind.

The Emberghers, Ceccherinis etc. that are posted here can in no way be compared to the work of Bruce Wei, Inc. Both are ornate, yes, but using that logic, my house, for instance, and a Rothko canvas are both painted. (Maybe with the same type of paint and the same type of brush.) Such analogies go only so far and actually obscure important values. With some artifacts, there IS an accounting for taste.

Bruce Wei's work is a hideous desecration of a craft and art from another country, culture and tradition. Plain and simple. If I were to purchase valuable Sanxian or Ruan and spray paint them with my gang's graffiti icons and then try to sell them as 'improved', I doubt anyone would be debating the merits of my 'ornament' relative to, say, Chinese calligraphy.

This guy will only proceed until some folks clearly express their distaste and others refuse to buy. It is bad enough on instruments he might make himself, completely deplorable on instruments he appropriates.

I used to think this guy's stuff was funny in a kind of tacky way. Now, I've gotten myself really p-o-ed about this. Time to write Mr. Wei a letter. (My only hope is that he photocopied a Vinaccia label and pasted into some hack mandolin.)

Well, at least I got to see some great mandolins in the course of this thread.

Mick

[Linda Binder]

<<Certainly the roots of the mandolin tree (an almond, I suppose) has been watered with the sweat of the elite; nonetheless, it would be a mistake to deny its folk roots, which have always extended deeper into the hearts of hoi polloi, whose affections sustained its existence during the frequent dry spells of the favored few.>>

Beautifully put Bob.

[Linda Binder]

<< (My only hope is that he photocopied a Vinaccia label and pasted into some hack mandolin.)>>
I've always wondered, and I guess hoped for that to be the case. It's just unbelievable that a quality vintage instrument be a revered luthier would be treated like this.

[Keith Miller]

Something I've wondered about... all that inlay, would it affect the tone of the instrument ? I would have thought that it would seriously change the resonant quality of the wood

[Jim Garber]

Elderly has this 1904 Style 5 Martin. Too bad it has been refinished.

Jim

[Martin Jonas]

Something I've wondered about... all that inlay, would it affect the tone of the instrument ? I would have thought that it would seriously change the resonant quality of the wood

To some extent, yes. Excessive inlay on the soundboard may potentially be detrimental to the tone. It is therefore interesting to look closely at the two quality instruments linked in the previous few posts: both the Ceccherini and the Embergher are heavily laden with inlay and decorations, but both of them, crucially, have a relatively plain soundboard. The pickguard on the Ceccherini is the same size as on his other instruments and the binding is only marginally wider. The inlay on the top is confined to the pickguard and the binding, i.e. to areas which are not acoustically active in any case. Similarly on the Embergher: the havily decorated pickguard is much the same size as on other, plainer, instruments and the main relevant difference in acoustic terms is the somewhat wider soundhole binding.

The parts that are really heavily decorated on the two instruments are the headstock, neck, fretboard, tailpiece and bowl, all parts that are essentially acoustically inactive anyway.

This is an important distinction, I think: there are many overdecorated examples where the decoration spills over onto the soundboard and I feel that those luthiers have crossed a line where form becomes more important than function.

Martin

[trebleclef528]

"This superb mandola was made by the brothers Vinaccia in Napoli in 1890...." ebay Item number: 230036852725 NICE! and nice price!